Happy Birthday to John!

Today is the 500th birthday of John Calvin. Calvin was a classically trained lawyer that broke ties with the Roman Catholic Church in 1529, following in the footsteps of Martin Luther. The two men are credited, by God’s grace, for the Protestant Reformation.

There are probably not more than a couple of people in the last 500 years that have had the effect that John Calvin has had in general and on Christianity in particular. He is regarded as one of the greatest Bible teachers. He was a terrifically prolific author, including The Institutes of Christian Religion and commentaries on almost every book of the Bible.

I appreciate and owe much of my theological training and convictions to Calvin. I love his determination that salvation in by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, as shown in scripture alone. He worked tirelessly for biblical faith and life. He insisted the Christianity was about Jesus, that it was a relationship, not a religion, and that all of life was a gift from a sovereign and loving triune God.

You may or may not agree with all of his theology (I have my disagreements with him- he was only a man), but it’s worth pausing a moment to thank God for using someone like Calvin to bring about reform in the church for the sake of the world and His gospel. I pray God would use each of us to do the same.